Athletes’ Advice Fuels Dillon’s Recovery | FEATURE

It wasn't much of a hit, more of a bump, really. But something immediately did not look right.

For a player who has laid out some grueling, booming hits over the course of his NHL career, Brenden Dillon wasn't quite sure what had happened.

"It was confusing," a fully healthy Dillon said at the opening of training camp. "That's the word, confusing. I really didn't know what was wrong, what had happened because it's a play that's happened a million times for me, and I've been hit or fallen or punched way harder than that before."

It was alarming to watch as well.

‘It’ was the play that ended Dillon’s playoffs and season last April. Dillon buckled to the ice after an awkward collision with Carolina Hurricanes forward William Carrier in front of the Devils' net in Game 1. You could see Dillon attempt to get up from the ice, he makes it to his feet, before falling forward again. He tries it a second time. Again, he fell to his knees on the ice. When the play occurred, he also didn't receive the same signals from his body, indicating that nothing was particularly wrong. He tried desperately to get back on the ice with his teammates, but the Devils' training staff held him back against his better judgment.

"There was no real pain, for instance," he said. "And then once the training staff came out, got in, kind of went through everything, in between periods, it was so early in the game, it was like, Game 1, Stanley Cup playoffs, sounds buzzing, like you're just so excited. I mean, for me at the time, like I didn't have any pain or bodily signal that, you should not be going back out there."

What came next was figuring out, well, what exactly came next.

“When the injury happened, you’ve got to separate yourself, Brenden Dillon the hockey player and Brenden Dillon the person,” he shared. “And regardless if I played another hockey game or not, I needed to have something done to get back to one hundred percent. And at the time, I didn't realize my neck was as bad as it was. And maybe I was playing with that for a year, maybe a couple years, who knows? And that was just on that play, the straw that broke the camel's back.”

"For the most part, with a knee injury, or the shoulder like, shoulder pops out, better repair the labrum," he said. "You know what it is, time frame, six to eight months. But when my neck injury happens? I didn't really know. There's not a whole bunch of guys that have had that in our sport."

Dillon revealed that he had an artificial disc replacement surgery after suffering a neck injury on the play.

Dillon exhausted all his resources wanting to make the most informed decision he could. This was about both Brenden Dillon the hockey player and the man, a father of two young girls and a husband.

There was one person in particular he knew he could call. Someone who had been there before.

Put in touch through his same surgeon, Dillon spoke with Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel.

Eichel had also had an artificial disc replacement surgery.

“It was just more than anything to have the confidence that I would be okay,” Dillon began. “That was a big one. And his situation was a lot more public and wide open. I think that's something for us as pro athletes, is we have a lot of access to doctors and physios and chiros and all these types of things. And ultimately, we, more than anybody, want to get healthy and feel our best, feeling right. For the competitive part in us, we want to get healthy and get healthy right and be as best as we can. So he kind of almost did a lot of the homework for me.”

Dillon said that he and Eichel spoke not just once, but multiple times, to put his mind at ease.

“It was so nice,” Dillon said. “Multiple times we talked on the phone, shared his thoughts and opinions. That’s the nice thing about the hockey world, is guys are so helpful and good with that. He just shared his thoughts and helped me along. I'm really, really grateful.”

Dillon also got sage counsel from Jesper Fast and Tyler Johnson, two players in the league who have dealt with similar situations.

What resonated most for Dillon was that he could enter his surgery and rehab with the utmost confidence; he felt he was entering his summer with the best available knowledge.

He is now fully healthy and thankful to the Devils staff for always having his best interests at heart, like preventing him from getting back on the ice in Game 1 in Carolina. You can still see the wash of emotions across his face as he re-experiences the disappointment of the news.

"I'm so appreciative of how the Devils treated things, the medical staff, Fitzy, the whole process over the summer," he said. "The check-ins from our team staff, I had someone from the organization with me every step, helping me out, caring for me, checking in with me, making sure things went according to plan, and I feel incredibly grateful."

Always willing and wanting to know more, Dillon didn't just check in with athletes in his own sport, he ventured outside to talk with athletes with varying specialties. Dillon, known to throw a fist or two over his time, made some calls to MMA fighters.

Perspective is everything. Eichel and Dillon, while they play the same game, don’t quite play the same game.

“I was able to talk to talk to some UFC guys that had had procedures done,” Dillon shared. “You know, the thing too is, for myself, some of those players, play a different game too. You kind of keep that in mind too. If I'm not able to play the game that I need to, I'm not, I can’t be effective.”

What both his NHL colleagues and MMA fighters told him put him at ease, making the next stage in the process all that more comfortable.

“It's amazing how far medical and science, have come. I was riding the bike, I was lifting a 45 pound weight the next day,” he joked, it wasn’t quite the next day. “After everything that had happened, I’m just so thankful that it went well. You know, you never want to get surgery, but it was a super great process. I was still able to train and work on my game this summer. I was still on the ice in July.”

And that was the most important thing for Dillon. He wanted to get the best possible care to make sure he was ready to go for the start of his second season in New Jersey.

“The 12 week mark was early August,” he said, “but I was cleared to go. I was cleared to go and have a UFC fight, a boxing fight. I was cleared to, most importantly, play an NHL hockey game.”

On Thursday, Dillon took part in his first practice since his injury and recovery as training camp opened. Through his trademark smile and optimism, the relief was evident.

“Today was great,” he said “It was nice to get out there. It was a high tempo practice. Got a couple bumps today, I had a couple of good hits, which is nice. I think that was half the battle of just putting yourself in, trusting that and having the confidence to go into those situations. And hockey doesn't matter, if you're Jack Hughes or you're Brenden Dillon, whatever style of game you play, like there's going to be some physicality involved. And I think for myself, I wanted to almost prove to myself that you can still do that. So far so good.”

Dillon was appreciative of all the support that Eichel and his fellow athletes were able to provide him. He saw the success Eichel had and trusted in it. Eichel returned to some incredible success and though they play very different games, Dillon hopes perhaps their follow up seasons will look very similar.

“With neck stuff, you need it to be mobile,” he said. “You need it for physicality. You need it for your vision, you need it for a lot of stuff, which I don't know, the surgeon promised me that I'd have Jack Eichel’s vision when I came out of it so, we’ll see.”

And if not his vision?

“Hopefully, we can have the same success the next year, like Jack Eichel winning the Stanley Cup.”